Day 6: Ferry to Picton and Marlborough

After ringing in the New Year in Wellington the next morning we took the first ferry to Picton on the South Island. The ferry departed at 8 am and we arrived close to noon. I was very impressed by how comfortable the journey was and the services available on board including a very reasonably priced cafeteria and entertainment for children. Once we landed in Picton our plan was to drive to Christchurch via Marlborough the wine region of the South Island. Within a 10 minute drive of the ferry dock are several world-class vineyards to explore. Unfortunately we only had time to stop by one vineyards for a quick wine tasting and some lunch.

We stopped by Cloudy Bay because it was right along the main highway and had an affordable tasting and a menu with great vegetarian options. It was a lovely day so we stopped by to do their $10 Cloudy Bay Experience tasting as well as lunch on their beautiful outdoor patio. The wine was very tasty especially their Savignon Blanc which I increasingly find to be my favorite kind of wine.

After our winery pitstop we started started our long drive to Christchurch. The road was along the ocean with stunning views and we even spotted some seals along the way. We reached Christchurch in the evening and were planning to walk around a little but the weather was not great so decided to just grab a quick dinner and take the night easy.

Day 7: Arthur’s Pass, Franz Josef Glacier

The next day we dropped off my Mom and Dad to take the trans-alpine train while my brother and I drove through Arthur’s Pass to meet them on the other side. We chose to do this since returning the car and picking a new one would be expensive and the train journey was something my parents really wanted to do. Unfortunately it was a very rainy day and there was practically no visibility when we drove through the pass. What could have been an extremely scenic car ride became a tedious drive through rain and fog in the mountains. We did get to make a couple site seeing stops along the way such as Castle Rock (pictured below) a site that is famous for rock-climbing and the picturesque unique rock formations.

After picking my parents up from the Greymouth train station we drove to the Franz Josef Glacier. Its about a 3 mile round trip hike from the parking lot to the point closest to the Glacier. Due to collapses over the years the closest hikers can get to the glacier is actually quite far but if the cloud cover is not too bad you can see the view pictured below. For close-up viewing tourists have to visit via helicopter ride. That evening we stayed at an airbnb close by since we would not be able to do any more driving that evening.

Day 8: Drive to Queenstown, Mt. Aspiring National Park

This day was one of the most scenic drives we’d taken throughout the whole trip. There were several well marked points to stop and appreciate the view. It really reminded me of driving along the Pacific Coast Highway in the US. We drove through Mt. Aspiring National Park and did the incredible blue pools hike which was very easy with many people even hiking in flip flops ready to jump straight into the water. I only wish we had a chance to do more hikes in the park before having to continue to Queenstown.

After our hike we drove past Lake Wanaka where we stopped by for an ice cream break along the beautiful lake before driving down to Queenstown. Please note this drive is not for the faint of heart. The road from Wanaka to Queenstown was extremely windy where in certain places we could only drive at 10-15 mph.

Day 9: Milford Sound

The next morning we left at 6 am bright and early to drive to Milford Sound for our 2pm cruise reservation. From Queenstown it was a about a 4 hour drive with many scenic stops that stretched the journey to almost 6 hours. Most of the stops are well marked and even if we missed the signs we could see several tourist buses pulled over on the side. Below are pictures from some of my favorite stops including: Mirror Lake, Elington Valley and The Chasm.

Day 10-11: Queenstown

These next two days in Queenstown unfortunately both started with some rain in the morning. Between the rain and being exhausted from traveling non-stop for several days we slowed down quite a bit. On the full day that we had in Queenstown we drove the Road to Glenorchy. Which is a short 46 kilometer picturesque drive that gives great views of  Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains. The village of Glenorchy was a great place to stop for lunch at one of the cute cafes. In the afternoon we visited the Skyline Gondola up to Bob’s Peak for an incredible view of Queenstown from above. On a fair day we would have taken the Ben Lomond trek however it takes 7 hours and given the rainy start to the day we didn’t have the full time.

Our last day in Queenstown I had planned to go Bungee jumping at he Kawarau River as it is a popular activity in the adventurous Queenstown. Unfortunately I woke feeling really ill and decided I just wasn’t up to it or maybe I’m just looking for a good excuse to visit again? Anyways instead we decided to just walk along the Arrowtown River which is apparently the river used for the barrel scenes in LOTR so we fit in another LOTR reference. 🙂

Day 12: Auckland

Our last day we had until about 3pm to explore Auckland before having to head off to the airport to fly home. We started off the day by grabbing breakfast with a family friend who owns a vegan treat stall called Apron Empowered. Our friend suggested that we visit Mt. Eden Summit and Devonport Wharf during our limited time in the city. Mt. Eden summit is a dormant volcanic peak that is also the highest point on the Auckland isthmus providing great views of the city just a short walk up the paved path. After our walk we drove over to Devonport pier where we had lunch at Devonport Stone and Oven Cafe located in the adorable neighborhood adjacent to the pier. After lunch we drove over to Mission Bay Beach enjoying the sunshine before driving back to the airport.

Wow! New Zealand really is a beaut. I can see why people gush about this country. From rainforests to volcanoes and beaches to glaciers NZ has a bit of everything is a relatively small area. During this trip we decided to go wide rather than deep and covered a LOT of area in the 12 days we had. I don’t regret this approach since there really is so much to see but when I visit NZ again I definitely plan on being able to stay in near Queenstown long enough to do some solid hikes as well as see some of the beautiful beaches in the Northern Island we completely skipped on this trip.

I plan on writing another blog post in the future with tips on how we were able to make this trip a bit more budget friendly despite NZ’s reputation of being expensive.